In a Colorless World
by MyHeadIsSpinning
Summary: Kai racked his brain trying to figure out what the three consecutive rings meant. His eyes met Jay's and the word neither of them wanted to hear passed his lips. "Intruder." OR: Jay and Kai join a gang undercover. Things escalate.
1. Chapter 1

_Takes place after season two. _

PART ONE

"_Jeez Kai, would you slow down? We're trying to infiltrate the place, not make it roadkill." _

_Kai groaned. "Tell me again why Sensei sent you of all people to accompany me?" He growled revving his bike to go faster._

"_It's simple," Jay began, "Cole is a dinosaur cinnamon roll, Zane isn't the best at not following rules, Lloyd is way too emotionally unstable, and Nya, though I hate to admit it, isn't strong enough yet." _

_The red ninja raised a masked eyebrow. "Dinosaur… cinnamon roll?"_

_Jay sighed and urged his bike forward. "That's all you got from my monologue?"_

"_No, I just stopped listening after that." _

Kai sighed, sending a glance to where Jay slept near the corner of their bunkroom. He regretted every eye roll, every retort he said that day. The mission had been going on for almost a month longer than originally planned. The leader had called them away from work and instructed the two to stay out of sight. To say that the fire ninja was afraid of them getting found out was an understatement.

He was terrified.

The plan was for the two ninja to gain the trust of a gang of misfits that, for unknown reasons, had been causing mayhem in the poorer areas of Ninjago City. The gang was also supposedly linked to several Missing Person cases

The red ninja's head snapped up at the sound of footsteps. A half knock echoed through the small room before the door burst open, leaving yet another dent in its wall. "Get up, Jay," Kai whispered halfheartedly.

"Why's he on the floor?" A man, Slug, said, wandering in. Slug was one of the leader's cronies, highly respected and equally as rotten.

"'Guess it's just more comfortable than these crappy beds."

The man snorted as he tapped Jay's torn shoe with his pristine boot before changing direction and shoving the toe of his boot into the lightning ninja's stomach. Jay groaned quietly before curling in on himself and going back to sleep.

Kai put on a show of rolling his eyes. "He's exhausted after you made him count money all night."

Slug shrugged. "Had to make sure he was doing it right."

The red ninja gave a small 'hmph' before doing his best to appear uninterested. Slug stomped a couple steps toward Kai and glanced around briefly before turning to leave, an ever present smirk upon his face. "Y'know, if you want the boss to trust you, you gotta drop the extra weight." The door slammed shut behind him.

It took a lot not to spit where the man previously stood.

Kai could feel the frozen floor through the soles of his boots. He took to stepping lightly to where Jay lay.

Jay shot awake before groaning. "Why do I hurt more than usual?"

"Slug was here."

"_Slug_?! Why was he here?"

Kai hesitated. "He just told us to watch our backs." An eye roll solidified the lie.

Before Jay could respond, the horrid screeching of an alarm pierced their ears. _Beep beeeeep beep. _Kai racked his brain trying to figure out what the three consecutive rings meant. His eyes met Jay's and the word neither of them wanted to hear passed his lips. "_Intruder_."

Following customs, the two lined up across from each other in the main hallway and watched as two gang members dragged crying sixteen year old down the hallway kicking and screaming. The ninja cringed, imagining one another in that position.

"I think you need to chill out buster!" Someone yelled. The other members cheered and laughed.

The boy was led down the hall out of sight. Eventually a gunshot rang out leaving everyone silent. His murder didn't have to be seen to be believed.

"He was just a kid!" Jay whisper yelled as he paced their room.

"So are we."

Jay paused and met Kai's glum gaze. "They're gonna come."

"Yeah… yeah they will."


	2. Chapter 2

Jay was humming as they walked down the half lit hallway. _Humming_.

And it wasn't the happy song Kai seldom heard during training or when the odds were with them in a difficult fight. It was… dark. The tune was agonizingly slow and creepy. Kai would've shut him up one hundred paces ago had the tone resonated less with him. The members walking between them said nothing but their sneers and growls spoke monologues.

Kai sighed, his stomach flipping at every step he took down the hall. The shadows flickered angrily at the 'intruders'. The stone, torch-lined wall almost would've been comical had the circumstances been… different. What even were their current circumstances? Only a week after the most recent intruder alert the two ninja were deemed trustable again and were sent with two men with definite attitude problems to collect something important. The whole task had screamed mal-intentions and yet here Kai was, suddenly wishing he'd said 'goodbye' instead of 'see ya later' three months ago.

Falling into step beside Jay, Kai hissed; "What are you humming?"

The blue ninja frowned. "It's a lullaby from my childhood, thought it was fitting."

"Well could you speed it up? This is not the ambience we need."

"It's not my fault you're spooked," Jay said in a sing-song voice.

Kai's mouth clamped shut as they reached the end of the hall and came to a set of stairs that led directly down into an iron door.

"We're here," one of the men (Tyler, was that his name?) mumbled, an ounce of dread in his gruff voice.

With another sigh, Kai moved to the front of the group and pushed the door open.

The undercover blue ninja froze.

Even from behind three people he could feel the deathly chill that escaped the room.

"FSM," Kai muttered, knocking Jay from his stupor. He watched awkwardly as his teammate wandered into the room flanked by two enemies.

'_They're coming for us,' _Jay thought bitterly, stepping into the room.

"I'm calling it." Jay flinched at the severity of Kai's voice.

"You _can't_," Jay croaked, surprising both himself and his partner-in-justice. "Every time I begged you to just radio in and end the mission after the planned two months came and went you said no, there are too many that depend on this group being shut down. _You_ said that. You were too stubborn to go home with one failed mission." His voice was soft but the words yelled through their confined space.

Kai looked away, studying the stained floor. So Jay continued. "Sensei told us that it may last longer than anyone really wanted it to for us to be able to wipe the gang. If we just-"

"And what would Wu say if he saw whatever just happened?" Kai snapped, unshed tears glistening in his pained eyes. "What'll he say when two murderers step onto The Bounty only half dead but wishing for more?" The brunet sighed at the lightning ninja's flinch. "They hurt you, I saw it, I'm not the one with the worsening limp, or the one with a black and blue body."

Jay clenched his fists well past white knuckles. "If you're trying to call me weak just do it."

Kai rolled his eyes as he turned all of his remaining energy and attention to his wrist communicator. "Keep watch," he said, praying that the bracelet still worked after so long dormant.

The blue ninja obediently moved to the door, his heart hammering with hope when the bracelet came to life. The red ninja shared a promising smirk with Jay before activating the emergency radio. It was far from midnight across Ninjago but one of the ninja was sure to get their message.

"Hey, this is the Hot One, Lightning Mouth is here too. We're absolutely starving right now and could use a heaping bowl of Cole's chili. Over and out."

"Aw shucks," a familiar yet unwelcome voice boomed with mock hurt. Slug appeared in the now open door way, a single dark eyebrow raised. "If I make you some chili myself won't you stay?"

'_Why didn't I hear him approach?' _Jay mentally cursed himself before realizing: the door had opened to his left, meaning he was stuck in the corner between the door and the wall, invisible from virtually every angle.

"Sorry," Kai shrugged. "My big brother makes the best chili in the nation. I wouldn't dare touch another bowl."

Slug scowled. "Words can hurt Kai. Or is it Hot One?" He snorted. "And I thought the freckley kid was weird, it's too bad he's harmless." The leader's right hand began to pace the small room. "But do you wanna know what's really funny?" He stopped in front of Kai, whose glare only deepened. Uncomfortable, Slug turned away. "Kai, and Jay, and Cole are all names of the famed Ninja. Two of which haven't been seen in nearly four months. Can you guess who?"

"Did Cole get salmonella?" Kai asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb with me."

The red ninja gave a harsh chuckle as he spun into his fiery tornado. "'You stay up all night figuring that out?" A glint of true fear flashed across Slug's face before being replaced with cold hatred. The man stumbled away from Kai's spinjitzu as he tried to buy enough time for him to find his blade.

The cronie may have been stupid, but he sure was quick.

Kai gasped, the fire dissipating around him, the minuscule dagger now protruding from his stomach, blood already blossoming across his shirt. With the snap of Slug's shaking fingers two underdogs began dragging the shocked ninja away.

"Shouldn't we search for the blue one?" the smaller one asked.

Slug laughed. "Nah, he won't make any trouble. He's too small."

Jay was stiff as every possible emotion ran through his mind. Why did Kai do that?

And what was up with all the code language? The Master of Lightning shuddered trying to pretend Kai didn't throw himself away leaving himself to save the day.

FSM, this gang was so stupid.

**A/N Spare me, I wrote this at 4 am lol.**


	3. Chapter 3

Kai was pulled from the pool coughing, sputtering, and left to learn how to breathe again as air shuttered its way through his heaving chest down to his lungs. His pallor was only emphasized by his own chestnut hair, darkened by the water, cascading over his forehead, and poking at his eyes. The restraints rubbed at his sore and bleeding wrists uncomfortably, almost distracting him from the burning pit in his stomach.

They found out, they effing found out.

The man whose hand had a firm grip and Kai's hair was muttering between snickers, his deranged voice gave the red ninja chills where the water didn't reach. Lucky for him however, Slug's complaints and imaginative questions drowned most of the horrid sound out.

Ignoring his captor's taunting, Kai listened carefully for familiar screams, hoping they'd never come. They didn't.

Relief soothed the smallest of his layers of pain, the pathetic attempt for a bandage binding his knife wound was now soaked through by a mixture of escaped water and drying blood.

The fire ninja sighed into a new void of silence before rough hands sent him falling defenselessly into the water once more.

Kai tugged and strained against his cuffs, oh how he hated vengestone.

The water flooded into his mouth with a burst of bubbles rising harmlessly to the surface of the pool. Water, the unmastered element he once felt connected to, now sent his heart drumming for release of its cold, unforgiving hold. Unconsciousness tugged anxiously at Kai's mind, begging him to let it take over. The red ninja kept a firm grip on its wrist, keeping unawareness from running into the picture. He had to buy Jay time and he couldn't do that while lying limp, half drowned in some guy's arms.

Kai's ears popped as he broke the surface once again, choking on water and bile. They were red tipped and just about frozen. Unfortunately, Slug's nasally voice still managed to pierce through Kai's headache, making it harder to bite back a groan.

In a sing-song kind of hiss, "Drowning isn't magically gonna make me learn the Ninja's location."

Slug growled and shoved the ninja deeper into the basin.

* * *

It was Lloyd who had the unfortunate privilege of being on lookout that night.

He had himself sitting on the floor, cradling a warm cappuccino to his chest while gazing up at the screen that scanned tirelessly for his missing brothers. Every once in a while the Bridge would beep frantically with a positive sonar signal that, to the team's disappointment, always ended up as a false alarm.

The golden ninja, feeling himself droop deeper into the floor, straightened up and attempted to shake the sleep from his eyes. Another sip from his coffee immediately awakened the youth as he ran to spit it into the sink, the reminder of his hatred for the drink and why it was nearly cold coated his tongue. It made sense why his elders always had a kettle of tea near, 'teenage solutions' never satisfied them.

It was when Lloyd was using the detachable faucet to rinse his mouth that the sonar gave a small beep, he almost didn't hear it. He strained his ears, waiting to see whether it really had detected something or not. The Bridge began beeping continuously as the icon of a digital envelope popped up on the screen, a red number one appeared in the envelope's top right corner. A message.

(After this the golden ninja would _never _turn the machine's volume down again.)

Lloyd scrambled the few feet to the dash, stumbling more than stepping. His shaking fingers hovered over the 'Alert' button that would wake the other ninja. What ifs echoed through his head; he didn't even know who the message was from. After a moment more of hesitation, the golden ninja slammed the button, leaving his palm stinging. He stood taking deep breaths, in and out, until the first sound of footsteps reached him.

He couldn't speak. Lloyd had to rely on his unwavering gaze so his arriving teammates would too see the unopened message. Their elders would not be joining them, something about a retreat to the countryside. (The building of a school may or may not have been mentioned, Lloyd didn't know, he'd been too busy brooding about being pulled from his nationwide hero tour. Back then.)

Three presences filed in behind him, one in his suit as if he'd never slept, the other two still clothed in their pajamas with sleep barely lingering in their eyes.

"Okay, kid," Cole sighed. "Open it."

Lloyd turned around just long enough to see Nya nod eagerly before turning around and skimming his hands over the keyboard, pulling the notification up slowly so as to not make any mistake. His hopes of good (for he didn't know just how many false reports the team could take) were kept inside.

Then it was loading.

The golden ninja stepped back in line with his siblings and waited.

A couple agonizing seconds passed until a voice memo appeared, playing automatically.

"_Hey, this is the Hot One…" _Kai's gruff voice filled the room, muffled by both an attempt to remain quiet and radio static. "_...Lightning Mouth is here too. We're absolutely starving right now and could use a heaping bowl of Cole's chili. Over and out."_

The barrier from silence ended after just fifteen seconds. Nya was the first to break the resulting quiet with a long exhale. That was the only que needed for Zane to jump to life, typing into programs far beyond Lloyd's reach, even after countless hours sitting staring at it.

Cole scoffed, hiding his joy behind annoyance. "_That's _the extraction code he chose to use?" Lloyd stuttered out a laugh from beside him. And they're somewhat functional.

"Okay," Zane sighed. "The connection was lost, but with a little bit of time I may be able to trace their location." The nindroid smiled.

"We're bringing them home."

* * *

In the time it took Jay to escape into the ceiling whilst avoiding the piercing gazes of their quarter's long-found security cameras, the summer sun was sending its first scouts over the horizon.

The warehouse still remained cloaked in darkness, and his heart was still absolutely pounding.

As small as Jay was, the walls of the vent he was residing in was beginning to press against his torso, turning his insides to mush. The blue ninja had never been able to build and pack muscle like his teammates. His strength lay hidden in his scrawny arms and gawky legs. Jay felt as miserable in that vent, inhaling years of dust, as he did standing next to Cole on conditioning days.

That led Jay back to his myriad of unanswered questions; including but not limited to: why would Kai let himself get taken in while himself was left to underestimation?

There was only such a distance one could follow a gentle trickle of blood and struggle.

Gingerly, Jay inched forward slightly further. The metal gave a creak as the blue ninja tried to unsee the rusted seams before him. Seriously, did no one ever check on the ventilation systems? Taking a deeper breath, Jay began to scooch down the tunnel until he was nestled safely at a conjunction of rooms and vents.

A sigh escaped the blue ninja's lips. It was hopeless. _He _was hopeless.

"Come on Jay," he softly hyped. "You can do this, after this mess is over, Fritz Donnegan will be renamed Jay Walker." He grimaced, silently cursing Lloyd for introducing him to the space warrior.

"_These damn rats."_

Jay squeaked at the unexpected voice, possibly worsening his case. The person continued speaking.

"_I liked the other lab better, and yet he insisted on moving." _

He? The leader? Jay paused. When did they relocate? Spotting the open vent where the voice was so obviously drifting from, he shuffled closer.

He could barely see someone snort.

"_Coward."_ he spat. The two laughed, slipping from the room.

**A/N Okay, I do admit that I struggle writing ma boi Jay, which is why his little scene is shorter than the others. I also did Not feel like proofreading so, my apologies xD. Thanks for reading!**

**Best, MHIS**


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